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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Pictures of Hollis Woods Review + Sci-fi Book Haul

Helloooooooooo, everyone! Today is day 2 of BookTubeAThon and I finished a book today (my second book completed for the read-a-thon so far). Usually I take time to contemplate and write reviews later, but I didn't take any notes on this novel because it was for children and it was so short. So, I wrote my review within hours of finishing it. I hope you enjoy my review and my Sci-fi book haul!

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

3 stars

Hollis
Woods has spent her whole life running. Running from the houses she's
put in under the foster care system, but also running from herself. Told
in alternating points of Hollis' life- the past with a family she loved
and who loved her back and the present with her current caretaker, an
older woman who forgets things far too easily. Hollis is faced with the
consequences of running from herself and how it has affected her
confidence, psyche, and self-perception. In this novel, Giff tackles
tough subjects like Alzheimer's and the effect it has on our loved ones
as well as what happens when we believe the things that people tell us
instead of defining ourselves. Hollis' struggle to cope with her own
self-loathing at the young age of twelve-years-old portrays how adults'
negatives words and admonishments shape our younger years, but also
gives us hope that there are adults out there who are quick to love,
cherish, and nurture the good that they see in young ones. This is a
very intense story for the targeted age group, but I think it's very apt
to start exposing children to these kinds of topics, especially topics
like self-perception, disease infecting loved ones, and the struggle
that children face with defining themselves. Giff's writing is nothing
special, but it's an important story and one that has moved and affected
millions. I remember how jealous I was that the higher reading group
was reading the book that had a Hallmark movie coming out and my mom
bought me a copy of the book after we watched the film together. I found
it recently in her bedroom on a bookshelf and I instantly knew that I
wanted to finally pick this one up. I'm twelve years late to picking
this book up, but I'm really happy that I finally picked this one up.
This isn't a groundbreaking novel for adults, but it is for children and
I think that's so important.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 3

Character Scale: 3.25

Plotastic Scale: 3

Cover Thoughts: I don't particularly like the cover, but it's nostalgic for me because I recognize and know it so well.

Here are the books that I've acquired in the last couple of months in the sci-fi genre. I have two other book hauls posted so far and you can check them out by clicking the links down below.

I've only read 1/7 of these books, which kind of sucks, but I sci-fi is a genre I have to be in the mood for, but I like to keep a lot of them on hand. I've read reviewed and made a video on Fahrenheit 451 which I gave 4 stars.

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts on them? Let me know down below in the comments!